U.S. Revises Paydown of Debt,
Signaling Bond Market Changes

WASHINGTON -- Thanks to a spring flood of tax receipts, the Clinton administration said the government will be able to reduce the national debt by a record $185 billion this quarter.

The revised paydown of the publicly held debt -- up from a previous official estimate of $152 billion -- suggests that the government's budget surplus for 2000 will be far larger than projected. The administration's current estimate of the fiscal 2000 surplus is about $168 billion; the Congressional Budget Office puts it at $179 billion....